About me

Given that my main interest is in measurement, I would consider myself to be a psychometrician.
As a Psychometrician I am interested in all aspects of Assessment, Evaluation, and Testing, with a specific passion for the Development and Application of Latent Variable Models in a measurement context (i.e., item response theory, factor analysis, latent class analysis, structural equation modeling, latent growth analysis...).

Main Research Topics

One particular topic that I am working on is the use of copula functions within this latent variable modeling framework, with a focus on local (item) dependence.
I finished my Phd. dissertation on this topic at the K.U.Leuven in Belgium under the guidance of prof.dr. Francis Tuerlinckx and prof.dr. Paul De Boeck (currently at University of Ohio).

I am also very fond of modern simulation and resampling techniques such as monte carlo studies, permutation and randomization tests, bootstrapping, etc.
Model selection and comparison is yet another area of interest.

Research Cooperation

There is this great quote stating that the advantage of being trained in statistics and methods is that you can go and play in everybody's backyard.
I feel that you are in fact morally obliged to do so. In a nice column in the AMSTAT magazine of the American Statistical Association, Prof Messinger stresses that "Everyone wins when the whole research team understands how to fully incorporate statistical science into the entire research process".
Hence, a research team that gathers a whole range of skills and backgrounds should always provide a fruitful environment, but communication is the key.